My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The new Vice Roy wins his first start as a Phils as the Phils defeat the Dodgers in a tight one, 2-0.

Roy Oswalt finally win his first start as a Phils as he and the back end of the bullpen throws a nine-inning goose egg at the Dodgers as the Phils win, 2-0.

The game was a tight one between the Phils and the Dodgers for the first three and a half innings pitchers’ duel between Phils’ starters Roy Oswalt, who was pitching in front of his new home town fans for the first time, and the Dodgers’ starter Chad Billingsley. During the first four innings that he faced the Dodgers, Oswalt gave up only three hits and a walk, while striking out a batter, as he pitched his way out a two on, and one out jam in the second, and a two on, two out jam in the third, while his opponent, Billingsley, gave up only a hit, while striking out three in his first three innings of work. But that would change in the bottom of the fourth as the Phils loaded up the bases via a single to Placido Polanco, and walks to Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth, and with one man out, when Dom Brown hit a grounder to second baseman Ryan Theriot, who then threw to second to force out Werth, 4-6, for the inning’s second out, but Brown would beat out shortstop Jamey Carroll’s throw to first, allowing Polanco to score and give the Phils a 1-0 lead, while Ibanez would move up to third. After Oswalt gets himself out of another two on, two outs jam in the top of the fifth, the Phils tried to add to their lead in their half of the inning, as Wilson Valdez lead-off the inning with a triple. But Billingsley would turned the Phils back as he gets Oswalt to ground out to short, 6-3, for the inning’s first out, then got Jimmy Rollins to ground out to second, 4-3, on one pitch, for the inning’s second out, before ending the inning by getting Polanco to fly out to left. The Phils would finally add to their lead in the sixth as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Raul Ibanez hits an RBI double, knocking in pinch runner Mike Sweeney, who took over second from Ross Gload, who had earlier doubled, but had come up lame as he headed for second base, with Sweeney later staying in the game to play first base, giving the Phils a 2-0 lead. That would end up being the final score, as Oswalt would pitch seven scoreless inning, giving up just five hits and two walks, while striking out five, before handing the ball over to the back-end of the Phils’ bullpen, who then threw two more scoreless innings, allowing the Dodgers only one more hit, before Brad Lidge would nail down his fifteenth save of the season by striking out both Jay Gibbons and Carroll swinging.

Roy Oswalt gets the win, his first as a Phil, as he pitches seven strong innings, giving up just five hits and two walks, while striking out five. His record is now 7-13 (1-1) with an ERA of 3.34 (2.79). Ryan Madson collects his fourth hold, as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while striking out two. Brad Lidge records his fifteenth save of the year as he pitches a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two. Chad Billingsley took the lost as he pitches six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out three. His record is now 9-7 with a 3.78 ERA. Kenley Jansen and Hong-Chih Kuo combine for two scoreless innings, giving up two hits (one apiece), while striking out three (Jansen (2), Kuo (1)).

The Phils had only seven hits in the game, with Raul Ibanez leading the team with two hits as he increased his personal hitting streak to eighteen games, as he had a single and a double, knocking in a run. Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Ross Gload (before he was taken out of the game for a groin injury), Jayson Werth and Wilson Valdez had the other five Phils’ hits, with Rollins, Polanco and Werth’s hits being singles, Gload’s hits being a double and Vladez’s hit being a triple. The Phil’s other run was knocked in by Dom Brown as he hit an RBI ground ball. The Phils, after a hitting display in a losing cause on Tuesday, had just enough hits to give Oswalt the win.

The Phils (63-50, 2nd NL East) will conclude their three-games series with the Dodgers (59-55, 4th NL West) with a night game tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phils will send to the mound Joe Blanton (4-6, 5.65), who is coming off a no-decision against the Mets on August 6, as he went seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits, while striking out four, in the Phils’ 7-5 win. In his last three starts, he has an 1-0 record with two no-decisions, as he had pitched nineteen innings, giving up eight runs on twenty-two hits and four walks, while striking out sixteen. He will be trying to end the home stand on a high note, hoping to give the Phils their fifteenth home win in their last seventeen home games. The Dodgers will counter with Clayton Kershaw (10-7, 3.19), who is coming off a lost against the Nationals on August 6, as he pitched six innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out nine, in the Dodgers’ 6-3 lost. In his last three starts, his record is 1-2, as he pitched twenty-one innings, giving up eight runs on twenty hits and seven walks, while striking out eighteen. He will be trying to end his present two-game losing streak. The Phils will be trying to end the home stand on a high note, before heading to New York for a three-game set.

I know. Thought the game was over until they started to hit in the eighth. Then when I saw Broxton being unable to throw strikes, I knew that they were still messing with his head (the two playoff games), and might be able to actually pull it off. He must still be having Matt Stairs nightmares to break down like that.

Thanks on the congrats in the leader standings. Should’ve known that I was just lurking near the top, just like the Phils are lurking behind the Braves right now. ;-)

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